1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side collision air bag device for protecting an occupant against a side collision of a vehicle by extending an air bag between the occupant and a door and, more particularly, to an improvement in the inflator.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to prevent a vehicle occupant from being brought against the side portion such as a door of a vehicle body at the time of a side collision, some cars are equipped with an air bag device. This side collision air bag device has its air bag extended when the vehicle has a side collision. In order to detect this side collision, there is provided a sensor for detecting a transverse acceleration of the vehicle, so that a diagnosis circuit decides the side collision, when the acceleration exceeds a predetermined value, to supply a starting current to the gas generator of the air bag device.
Thus, the starter for the side collision air bag device of the prior art has to be equipped with the acceleration sensor and the diagnosis circuit, so that its structure is complicated to raise the production cost.